May 12, 2016
Where Does the Phrase “Am Yisra’el Ḥai” Come From?
Popular today at weddings and bar-mitzvahs, the words, meaning "the people of Israel lives," trace all the way back to the story of Joseph.
Reuven Shirazi inquires:
“Do you know the origins of the Hebrew expression am yisra’el ḥai, ‘the people of Israel lives?’ Although I can’t find anything resembling it in the Bible or the liturgy, it’s commonly encountered nowadays.”
It’s encountered especially, one might add, during these post-Passover weeks of Yom Ha-Shoah or Holocaust memorial day, Yom Ha-Zikaron or Israel’s memorial day for its war dead, and Yom Ha-Atzma’ut, Israeli independence day. And Mr. Shirazi is right that it can’t be found in traditional Jewish sources. The expression was first popularized in the course of the last century by its occurrence in a number of songs, one of the best-known composed by Shlomo Carlebach in 1964.